Contaminated Chelmsford site offers limited options to buyers

CHELMSFORD -- The town will issue requests for proposals from anyone interested in buying a contaminated 3-acre site on Katrina Road or using the site to generate solar power.

Options are few for the vacant former Silicon Transistor factory site between the Chelmsford Mall and Interstate 495 because of expensive the clean-up costs. More than $1 million in state and federal funding already was spent cleaning the site, according to the town.

Chelmsford took over the 27 Katrina Road property in 2006 because of nonpayment of taxes, but did so without bearing responsibility for the clean-up costs. But the site also doesn't have much, if any, potential as a revenue generator because of its condition, Town Manager Paul Cohen told the Board of Selectmen last week.

"This disappointing part is, it still doesn't appear to be a cost-viable site," he said.

"It's a real conundrum at this point," he added later.

The town plans to issue two requests for proposals next month: one for interest in buying the site, and another in leasing the property for solar panels, likely for a five-year term. The five-year lease would be a way for the town to bring in short-term revenue while continuing to look into long-term uses.

Anyone who buys the property would assume clean-up liabilities, but not someone only leasing the property for solar power generation. Not many uses would bring the level of revenue needed to pay for the clean-up, officials said.

Costs are expected to be $1.

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5 million for the project, which will take 24 months. Those costs also include 20 years of monitoring the site for contamination.

"For a developer to take on that kind of cost, it wouldn't benefit them to get their return on their investment," Selectman James Lane said.

Some other suggested uses, such as parking for the adjacent Bruce Freeman Rail Trail or a park-and-ride lot, wouldn't bring in enough revenue, Cohen said. An industrial building could be built on the site but would require a shield over the contamination underneath, he said.

The property was last assessed by the town at $548,100.

The former Silicon Transistor factory was demolished in 2011, allowing for further cleanup of the soil underneath the building. The soil is contaminated with chlorinated volatile organic compounds, according to a state brownfields report. Contamination is so deep into the ground that it can't simply be dug out and instead must be treated.

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